How the Student Poland Experience Has Changed
The Poland trip has become de rigueur for Modern Orthodox gap-year students. But seismic changes in contemporary Poland and shifting trends in Modern Orthodoxy mean that the content and meaning of these trips are different than they used to be. David I. Bernstein, who has been leading Poland trips since 1992, tells the story of the student Poland experience, then and now.
Joyful Planting: COVID and the Prohibition of Planting During the Three Weeks
Erica Brown considers the little-discussed prohibition on planting during the Nine Days and what it teaches about the nature of mourning and joy.
In Six Barleys were Wrapped an Enduring Legacy
Ezra Zuckerman Sivan examines the significance of the six barleys that Boaz gives Ruth in light of the story of Rachel, Leah, and the duda'im.
Yatziv Pitgam: Poetry as Talmud Commentary
How should we understand Yatziv Pitgam, the enigmatic poem recited in the Haftarah for the second day of Shavuot? Tzvi Novick’s close reading reveals it to be a paean to the Torah and those who study it.
Across the River
In this riveting short story, Leah Cypess retells a medieval Shavuot legend of how a Jewish community was saved from a deadly sorcerer.
Gleaning the Wisdom of Ruth
In advance of Shavuot, Stuart Halpern reviews Reading Ruth, a succinct but poignant new literary commentary on the Book of Ruth, by Leon Kass and his granddaughter Hannah Mandelbaum.
Modern Orthodox Jews Should Be Trailblazers in Holocaust Education
As we commemorate Yom HaShoah, Shay Pilnik urges us to add a Modern Orthodox voice to a discourse increasingly dominated by secular perspectives.
The Lonely Seder, Take Two
As another Pesach in isolation approaches, Will Friedman examines how Rabbinic texts take solo sedarim into account.
Seinfeld at Your Seder
Esther Lindell reviews “The Haggadah about Nothing,” Rabbi Sam Reinstein’s not-too-serious exploration of how the Haggadah relates to Seinfeld, the ever-popular 90s sitcom.
Does Hashem Wear Pyjamas? On The Unacknowledged Educators Of Seder Night
As we approach the Seder, Joe Wolfson invites us to consider how children’s questions help adults appreciate the true meaning of Pesach.
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